Baseball Fans Can Now Sell Their Seats During Games

Tourists visit New York City to do things like take in a Yankees Game or visit the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Now they can almost do both at the same time.

That’s right, the public can now enjoy America’s favorite (non-football) pastime while simultaneously engaging in the sort of capitalistic bidding wars that rage on the Stock Exchange floor. How can they do this? By selling empty stadium seats to other fans in the stadium during the game.

You thought being a Red Sox fan in Yankee Stadium was a good reason to start a fight? Wait until you and your son try to outbid other fans for those two seats behind Mariano Rivera as he warms up in the bullpen (during his final season, we might add). The Dad with the most money or faster digital device wins–you know, the better Dad.

You might as well just go home.

Of course, Major League Baseball has every right to profit from its assets, but this evolution in the game should be met with at least a little cynicism and sad nostalgia. In our society, the average Joe Baseball rarely has an opportunity to stick it to the man by, say, jumping into the empty seats a few rows closer to the field.

Those moments are–or should we say were–baseball at its finest, creating a unique and permanent bond between friends and family members that no autographed memorabilia can trump.

Bu those days are gone, and if baseball symbolizes anything to Americans, it’s that life changes: Race barriers are broken; Lights are added to stadiums; Rich people get padded seats; Heroes pass and others take their place. But this looks like a big cash grab to fans like us. And now we feel old.

Despite all of the spin Major League Baseball will throw at you regarding its new “business strategy”, don’t be fooled: this is a sad day.